Drag (No, I don't mean wearing high heels in the boat)

cheapersleeper

Would you guys and girls (hypothetically) tell me how you set and use your drag for the various kinds of fishing you do? Both in the boat and on the bank and what have you. Feel free to get specific like when using circle hooks for catfish and such.

Thanks.

Brad
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"I was getting too many snakes in the house, otherwise I would have stayed,"

DavidP · Posted: Mon, Jul 07 2008 06:49 pm Post subject:

I keep drags set lite for two reasons. I like the drag set where I can easily pull off line. Maybe 5 pound pull. If you use your rod correctly with a drag set at this level, you can fight a fairly large fish without fear of breakin off. Always easier to add tension if needed.

Now the second reason be due to the mechanics of the drag system. It be a series of washers and when you tighten the drag down hard those washers get compressed and don't slip. That's the way they be designed. Problem is if they be kept that way they sometimes stick. So when you do back off the star drag them washers don't always release. So just when you think you be a easin off on the big boy some...that be about the time the line snaps.

Much easier to add and by keeping the drags set light they don't stick on ya none. Now this be for abu reels as this be the only kind I use. If'n you be using sumpin else yer mileage may vary!

smiffy · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 07:31 am Post subject:

well, i keep the drag set fairly tight to get a good hook set. if i know i've got a big one on i back off on the star drag real fast and then use my thumb to control the drag.
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polebender · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 08:47 am Post subject:

wow dave, I keep my drag at about 30 pounds. Like Smiffy, I get a good hard hookset even if my thumb slips. I will loosen after the fish is on and do most of the play with my thumb, but will lock down if needed. It also helps me to know what size fish I got before I can see it. If it is taking drag, then it is a keeper. anything less than that is something I shoul dbe able to handle with my gear locked down and muscle to the boat if I want.
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Liverpool_Fan · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 08:55 am Post subject:

Like Joe and Smiffy, try to keep mine set a few pounds under the line breaking strain.

I figured it all starts with the hookset and if you get slippage then you are loosing hookset power. I haven't ever met a catfisherman that thought that was a good idea

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anyfishwilldo · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 09:03 am Post subject:

When fishing for cats shallow I set it tight, when drifting with circles I will set it loose enough to let line out when I get hung so as to not break the rod but tight enough for the hook to load up. The key to the drags not sticking is to always pull some drag out before you start fishing & if you go by the mfg recommedations you are supposed to loosen the drag while not using it which is why all new reels should have the drag completely loose. If I stick a big fish in shallow one of the 1st things I try to do is loosen the drag sometimes it might not be quick enough, but it's only happened to me once that the main line broke before I could get the drag loose.
...Don
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Married men don't live longer, it just seems longer!

DavidP · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 10:52 am Post subject:

Well ya'll jus goes ahead & keeps them thar drags set real tight. One of these days ya'll gonna lose that lake record! A thumb on the reel give plenty of resistance to get a good hookset if'n ya keeps them hooks sharp!

That 50 pounder at TWOK last year was pullin line off the reel when I flipped the handle. Thumb on spool and WHAM he wuz hooked and the battle wuz on. Bet I never tightened the drag above 15 pounds or so. Just used the rod correctly and lift with rod and reel down keeping the slack out of the line. Ya;ll boys that use that reel like a winch and crank down on the drag are gonna lose a biggun some day. Those kind of fish don't come along often. i can see it now...that monster be a swimmin to the boat and once he sees that boat...he suddenly gots a diifferent opinion of the situation at hand. Bat turn at 180 degrees and that line holds for an itty bitty bit and then......well too bad.

Even though I be in the minority opinion here I ain't changing nuthin!!!

cheapersleeper · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 10:58 am Post subject:

I am growing more and more confused.

Maybe I could ask more specific questions...

1) When I am fishing vertically for small fish like crappie how do I set the drag for trying to get those quick little hook sets?

2) When I fish for cats, I use circle hooks and have always pretty much just locked the reels down with the drag full on. Since I haven't caught anything over five or six pounds I haven't had a problem with that. How much drag do I need for the circle hooks to do their magic? Do I want them to take some line? I am so confused. Also, when I switch to a boat I plan on doing mostly what I do from the bank when I fish for cats.
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"I was getting too many snakes in the house, otherwise I would have stayed,"

smiffy · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 11:16 am Post subject:

lock it down. you can tell if it's a big fish. if it is, back off on the drag till he starts pulling drag. then you can control the drag with your thumb on the spool. if the fish makes a hard run, just remove your thumb and let him run.remember..... let'em bend it,let'em go!!
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Red sky at night, sailors delight.
Red sky at morning, that's a big fat warning!

anyfishwilldo · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 11:51 am Post subject:

When I say tight it is still loose enough that the line will pull out without breaking & I will loosen it as soon as I stick a big fish. Watch out for those thumb burns. For crappie I set fairly loose so you can pull extra line out for defth changes without opening the bail or pushing the release button at least that's what I learned for Jerry

...Don
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Married men don't live longer, it just seems longer!

lou_a · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 12:00 pm Post subject:

I'm with Simon on this one, I try to set my drag a little bit under the breaking point of the line and then I'll give a little extra loosening turn for "surge" protection. I'd rather err on the side of line coming off "too easy" then breaking. And like David said, you can always use a little finger pressure on the spool if your set a little to loose, and remembering to significantly loosen your drag at the end of the days fishing will keep your drag working good for a long time.

I almost always tightline, and don't use baitfeeders/clickers, so i do not have to play with my drag settings once set. Because I always use spinning gear and bank fish, if I were to cast with my drag real loose, the line slipping on my index finger as I cast would slice it. So another reason to keep it near the breaking strain.

I do not own any reels that the guts are strong enough to use as a winch. Unless it's a pretty small fish, I use the "pump the rod up without reeling, then acquire line while dropping the rod tip down" method (pump & reel). Even with only 14 & 17 lb test, and the drag set under the breaking strain of the line, the guts of my mostly $20 reels would be reduced to mush and rendered useless if I attemted to just crank a decent size fish in using just the reel handle.

Dunno if I helped, but I guess we all have to find what works for ourselves, cause 10 different people will give you 10 different answers.

polebender · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 03:55 pm Post subject:

like anything, I won't really change what I am doing until I feel it ain't working

I have only had 2 big fish break me off that were not on stumps, etc. They were both yanking drag and it was rolling off, so I fugure there was some other defect in the line.

When a fish is going to run under the boat, I ALWAYS lock the drag down and hold on. If he turns to head back away, then I will loose it back up. Anybody that has caught big fish in the shallows knows that the fish will make a run and then run #2 is when he sees the boat. Sometimes you can get him out before run 2, but you BETTER do it quick and noe mess up!
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www.4footcat.com
www.northtexastrophycats.com

DavidP · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 04:43 pm Post subject:

Lordy, ain't the shallow water bite jus plum wunderful! There's nuthin like it! Seeing that swirl, then the tarpon wanna be tail flop, the dash for the stump, more swirling, the turn when they see the boat and finally all the splashing, tail slapping and the last desparate dive under the boat just as your skillful patner slip that net under that rascal.

Not anything like it!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Joe & Doug fer teaching the techniques!

polebender · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 06:34 pm Post subject:

DavidP wrote:

Lordy, ain't the shallow water bite jus plum wunderful! There's nuthin like it! Seeing that swirl, then the tarpon wanna be tail flop, the dash for the stump, more swirling, the turn when they see the boat and finally all the splashing, tail slapping and the last desparate dive under the boat just as your skillful patner slip that net under that rascal.

Not anything like it!!!!!!!!!

What a beautiful sentence!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Makes me wanna go fishing

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Joe Simpson
www.4footcat.com
www.northtexastrophycats.com

cheapersleeper · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 07:24 pm Post subject:

I had no idea this place was full of poetic fisherman.
_________________
"I was getting too many snakes in the house, otherwise I would have stayed,"

polebender · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 07:42 pm Post subject:

cheapersleeper wrote:

I had no idea this place was full of poetic fisherman.

i think the REAL question here is "what do you have an idea about?"

Just kidding Brad

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Joe Simpson
www.4footcat.com
www.northtexastrophycats.com

cheapersleeper · Posted: Tue, Jul 08 2008 07:47 pm Post subject:

Same idea I had before: Every one here fishes more than I do and is bigger than me.
_________________
"I was getting too many snakes in the house, otherwise I would have stayed,"